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Saturday, August 18, 2007

The books don't apply ...

I have dragged out all the books. What to Expect, The Toddler Years ... First Time Mom ... The Baby Whisperer for Toddlers ... The Dog Whisperer... Lucy's problem is not in the book. I think she might have insomnia. This is not good when coupled with my insomnia. Here's how last night went ... Momma tossed and turned until about 2:30 a.m. ... finally felt that sweet relaxation of oncoming deep sleep when from what do my wandering ears do appear??? but a miniature voice from a baby monitor ... 3:00 a.m. the first whine, "momma" but it stopped right away. My body tensed up ... is she going to wake or sleep. Seemed like sleep ... my body starts relaxing ... 3:30 it comes again ... my body seizes ... I just don't want to deal with it ... but it quiets right away. Relax. Finally the big moment arrives at 5a.m. The bribe from the night before wasn't going to work 2 nights in a row! I carry her into the makeshift bed on my floor and to my surprise she falls right asleep. She sleeps til 7. In the last two nights I have decided to use the little bed by my bed in an effort to sleep and curb my frustration. For weeks now she has been waking up screaming bloody murder ... and I get that ... I go in and comfort her but she is either anxious or controlling but either way she WOULD NOT go back to sleep. We tried crying, holding, back rubbing, cosleeping etc ... but nothing would tip her from really relaxed to actually asleep. Several nights she would be awake for up to three hours. ARRRGGGHHHHH. Tonight I really really want a good night. It would be nice to pair her sleeping well with me not having to set my alarm for work. Keep in mind, this blog entry was written on very little sleep with Lucy still running around hence the bad grammar and the slightly off the cuff style.

4 comments:

I hope you both find peaceful slumber tonight. Do what you need to do to find sleep...don't worry if the book tells you it's a bad "habit" or whatever...sometimes you just gotta sleep. It always amazed me how long Cy could go on so little sleep. Hopfully this is a short phase...

Poor baby, and poor you! Mylittle one was doing soooo much better in the sleep department and then last night- whammo. I, too, sleep very poorly, and so treasure it when she does fall BACK asleep at 5 am :)Stacy, I read on a couple of other blogs about toddlers (adopted as babies under 10 mths of age, too) suddenly having memories that are triggering night terrors. Both sets of parents know what it is b/c the child has told them the dreams... think Lucy may be going through something like this?

Stacy,I am so sorry! We had the flu last week and every one of my 3 were up during the night!! Sleep is so not thought about until we don't get it. Hey, you know lucy is gorgeous and even at 3am she must look cute!

About Me

I adopted my daughter Lucy from Ethiopia in 2005. I am a single mom. I am also a social worker and a human being. Most days it goes in that order; mom, social worker, human being. Wouldn't want to change the mom thing for the whole world. Please click to link to my old blog for a tour of the Ethiopian adoption process, and the first year or so of Raising Lucy